Commercial Litigation Law Alert - The Fifth Circuit Agrees That Defendants May Not ‘Pick Off’ Class Representatives With Full Settlement Offers

On Aug. 12, 2015, less than a week after the Seventh Circuit’s decision in Chapman v. First Index, Inc., the Fifth Circuit followed its previous rulings and agreed with decisions from the Third, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Circuits. The court concluded that an unaccepted full settlement offer to a class representative does not moot the named plaintiff’s individual claims or the class action.

Unlike Chapman, the Fifth Circuit in Hooks did not discuss a potential affirmative defense based on the rejected offer. This issue is currently before the Supreme Court in Gomez v. Campbell-Ewald Company.

Barnes & Thornburg’s newest office in Dallas, Texas, is located in the Fifth Circuit.

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